| We know, of all things, what does not inspire the one-man audience. Although the quasi-self-deprecating humor of creating the XBA to challenge the NBA was certainly clever. But it just was one more foil for Vince McMahon’s obvious motivation, personal umbrage at being slighted. Vince has left a wake of destruction following what could have been an uncommon opportunity of positive (read victimhood) main stream press. Vince, instead of playing the mistreated businessman, taking up the mantle of his dissed fans, and riding the attention of ESPN, national journalists and local Denver press coverage, decided to abandon all of that. No matter what ties he found to pull out of Colorado, and swagger into Los Angeles, Vince has proven once again that any sort of advantage is trumped by personal animosity; that any sort of inconvenience is bet resolved by spectacular come-uppance, no matter what the cost; that positive press is an anomaly, even if self-fulfilling prophecy is one more avenue for keeping it such. Maybe in a less frustrating world of professional wrestling, Vince McMahon and company would be more attuned to what is defeating their once dominant status as PPV event. In that less frustrating world, Vince would be more concerned with being the cutting edge, or usurping the cutting edge, and thereby reclaiming his title of king of all competitive sports promoters, instead of blindly sitting on the sidelines, making fun of ineptitude all the while fiddling a tune he and a few of his cronies laugh heartily at, all the while the real game rages on in the real playing field, and the audience of millions is watching that show on PPV, or the NBA game on national television, or not even paying attention to professional wrestling because of how bad it has gotten since he bought the whole industry. Wow, that was a mouthful. Point is, the UFC is the biggest game in town, and instead of locking horns, stealing its thunder or out-maneuvering it creatively, Vince McMahon is too concerned with putting the SmackDown! on Stan E. Kroenke. Yawn. A few minutes of worthless personal vendetta. If it weren’t followed by a reasonably interesting setup for the main event, it would have been a complete waste of time. (And wow, is the Miz still keeping his heat? What’s the over/under on that evaporating?) Point is, if the WWE Creative were looking at the UFC instead of all the refunds in Colorado and lack of LA ticket purchases, maybe they’d gain some insight into what the modern day fan wants to see in a PPV. And so, with a nod to the fact that last week’s ESPN mockery of a top 25 things about something column didn’t inspire much reaction, here’s ten things I saw from the fallout of the main event of UFC 98: Machida vs Evans. (Ironically, Lyoto Machida’s connection to professional wrestling isn’t exactly trivial. His early career was guided by Antonio Inoki, the man who some would call the fore-runner of modern day Mixed Martial Arts spectacles.) 1) How about that quick fight to a finish? We live in a professional wrestling world where predictability means about a twenty minute main event. Not since Japanese fans got a little blasé about Kawada/Misawa matches until the twenty five minute mark has the industry been so downright cookie-cutter about championship matches. Wrestling controls the times. MMA does not. Which is more exciting – knowing that the main event is going to last until 10:40, or not being able to predict how long it will take? It’s all about the constrictions of formatting. 2) “Karate is back!” says Machida. Most of MMA is an amalgamation of various fighting traditions these days. No pure fighting arts exists much anymore, and strangely enough the WWE house style is much of the same. Not that Machida’s brand of Karate is a proven winner, but it’s a winner for him. Different styles in the WWE is almost impossible to comprehend. Poor old Vladimir Kozlov got his head handed to him because he can’t do the cookie-cutter WWE style (Promo/long match/technically sound wrestling) I know that’s a crazy thing to complain about, but that’s also a tangent that I’ll ignore for a later day. And not that the WWE should push the heck out of Kung Funaki either, but it would be refreshing to see another style come into prominence and change things up. 3) How about fine-tuning that a bit? What about Lyoto Machida’s long term strategy? Is it me or did he fly in under the radar with a dozen or so boring, mostly by decision, wins? And then, when the title was on the line, an unanticipated aggressiveness may have very well won him the title. Multi-dimensional aspects to the fighting games are more apparent when not scripted? 4) How about that build up? No matter how boring or lackluster the wins were, Machida strung out some thirteen wins without a loss, and arguably without a lost round in that stretch. Nothing wrong with setting up a guy for a championship match, not with big name wins, but with wins. Not with the mere dictate of a booker, but with the undeniable facts of a winning streak. And then some depth: since again, one could call the matchup unspectacular because of stylistic concerns; the promotion could have backed out at some point with the Anderson Silva comparison (and concern;) but in the end, being the logical next contender does mean something. And being the contender means having a chance to win. 5) Is it just me, or is there something to building up matches, and not just plugging in a new PPV every month, just because? The UFC is about its own brand name, that’s for sure. But matchups mean something when those matchups play out over time, get built up on a proper pace, and become viable – not because of the undercard, or the mishmash of brands, or the ‘just because we have to have a PPV this month.’ I know the concept of a monthly PPV is sacrosanct, but just because it’s a monthly PPV doesn’t mean that every PPV begins the day after the previous one is over. Unless creativity is constrained by its own format. 6) Funny how Machida won with a knock-out. Going in to the match, the best bet would have been a five round decision. On the other hand, MMA and the UFC is a lot about submissions. (Isn’t the WWE going to do a submissions only PPV shortly? That will grab the attention of the fight fans!!) Once upon a time, professional wrestling (or was that ‘rasslin?) was all about the count-outs, the DQ’s and other finishes, not just the 1-2-3. UFC fight fans ‘know’ the avenues of victory, and they understand that every match isn’t going to end up with one form of a win. Strange how that can be done realistically but not scripted anymore. 7) Diversity, anyone? Not that I’m a right wing nutcase or anything, or am pointing figures at Vince’s lack of political correctness (or am I both?) but let’s take a look at the main even level of the WWE. Yeah.. Lyoto Machida – Brazilian by the way of Japan. Rashad Evans – African American. Imagine those two headlining a professional wrestling event. Kinda hard these days. Reality trumps the WWE, it would seem. Then again, not every guy who left the WWE for the greener pastures of MMA was the size, shape and color of Brock Lesnar. 8) Home grown stars? Rashad Evans, star of The Ultimate Fighter 2, which aired in 2005, is a home grown talent. The UFC’s vehicle for star creation has been awesome, and with Rashad as the winner of the Heavyweight Division that year, and the Light Heavyweight Champion since last year, it is one more stellar mark for the promotion, in its ability to take talent, give those faces national exposure, build them into contenders, and then see them win championships. Can you think of the UFC without its TUF winners today? Can you imagine a promotion that has no interest in creating new stars, satisfied instead with the status quo, and resting comfortably on the laurels of its own brand-making? 9) Acquired stars? The UFC had every reason available not to sign Lyoto Machida. He was a potential star in Japan, but untested in the United States, and the UFC was not very strong in the picture in terms of gaining a foothold in Japan – purchasing PRIDE was one thing, gaining TV and a foothold and everything else was elusive. Machida stayed on, however. His style wasn’t telegenic. His mastery of the English language gave the UFC one more guy who would be world-class, but could never cut a promo in the native tongue of most of the audience. His mentor, Antonio Inoki, wasn’t exactly someone that had a great reputation in the United States as a draw. Actually, among the pro wrestling insiders and the fight insiders, the concept of a fighter guided in any way, shape or form by Inoki would be problematic, considering how New Japan professional wrestling (with its one time prominence on Japanese TV) fared in the real fight business. But multiple strikes didn’t mean that the UFC wouldn’t take a chance. Machida, now the Light Heavyweight Champion, was given the opportunity. He never failed, and has yet to fall. In professional wrestling, at least the version of the WWE in the past five years, virtually every talent acquired by the promotion has been cut off at the knees. Monte Brown, Chris Harris and the TNA types with potential? Hah!! Going back, one can look at most of the WCW contracted wrestlers. And actually, short of Stone Cold (who was slotted for mediocrity himself) has there been much of anyone who had been anything elsewhere, who has made it to the top of the WWE heap? Acquiring talent, and making money with them, shouldn’t be a constraint.. But then, we’ve heard from those better than I about how the WWE can out-script, out-maneuver and is never at the whim of injuries, which makes it strange since the WWE has been unable to create new stars, has been unwilling to reformat its packaging to take advantage of modern day sensibilities and more so, has been completely derailed at times by the injuries to its aging roster. Joe Babinsack can be reached at
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. I’ll be looking at Memphis’ NEW promotion, which is a fascinating ride through old-school sensibilities. Then, it’s to FIP… man, am I type-casting myself or what? 10) | 
